The present invention relates to a connector for connecting two or more panels of stone or concrete together.
The use of slabs of stone in pieces of furniture is well known and in particular slabs of stone are commonly connected together to form a base for a table or to form a desk-top. Currently there are several commonly used systems for connecting stone panels. One such system involves the use of epoxy to join the panel sections. However, in this system, the glued joints must finished by the stone fabricator after the joining has occurred. Further, this type of panel construction takes up a large volume of shipping space and the amount of breakage during shipping is relatively high as the shape of the finished panel is generally quite fragile. The gluing of stone panels together takes a considerable amount of labour time and cannot be subsequently disassembled for moving or storage.
Another system that is used to join stone panels has been adapted from a system used to connect glass panels. In this system, the edge of the stone is inserted into slot and a set screw is then tightened onto the stone's surface. This system is dependent upon having panels of consistent thickness and often stone panels will not have such uniform widths. In the stone industry variances of 2 millimieters for 2-3 centimeter thick panels are common but variances are often greater. Also, the set screws have a tendency to work loose through time causing the owner to have to have to continually tighten them or risk connection failure.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved system for connecting stone or concrete panels that overcomes the problems with the current systems as discussed above.